Why a Nonprofit Ask Should Look More Like a Venture Capital Pitch

When I first started out in fundraising, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit like Oliver Twist before entering a big ask meeting with a donor. I was often wide-eyed at my surroundings, intimidated by their status or wealth, presenting my cause with an air of desperation in my voice. My pitch probably gave the donor the impression my nonprofit was just barely hanging in there, and that I needed their help to keep the lights on. It was almost as if I wanted them to be kind and pity me in order to write me a check at the end of the meeting. I felt like that poor and hungry orphan boy, begging: “Please sir, I want some more.”

Can you relate?

Turns out, when you act like a beggar, you get scraps.

I knew I needed to change my mindset if I wanted to really start growing my organization. In the 11 plus years I’ve been pitching donors, I’ve learned something that has dramatically changed how I approach donor meetings.

Donors don't want me to be Oliver Twist. They want me to be their partner.

It makes sense if you think about it. Which sounds more appealing to you—being asked for a handout and responding out of pity or being able to participate in funding an exciting project that can change the world?

So I stopped acting like Oliver Twist in donor meetings and I decided to think more like a business person pitching to a venture capitalist. My first step was to refine my pitch.

Here’s the thing about high net worth individuals that most of us forget. They hear pitches for exciting partnership opportunities all the time.

They likely have several projects they are working on and investing in, both professionally and personally. Business deals. Philanthropic projects. Boards. Funds. They’re like the venture capitalists on Shark Tank, they know a good pitch when they hear one and there’s no shortage of opportunities where they can invest their money.

I used to head into a big donor meeting with only a few bullet points I’d jotted down morning-of or, even worse, just a vague idea of what I wanted to talk about. Turns out you don’t stand out from the crowd when you are the least prepared person they’ve talked to all week about what they could be doing with their money. I’ve learned that taking the time to craft a killer pitch is a non-negotiable in the world of high-net-worth individuals.

Over the years, I’ve worked hard to dial in how I pitch donors. And it’s paid off. I’ve grown my startup nonprofit in less than 8 years to a budget of nearly $13M after starting with just $50k in seed money (which was far too little, as a result of poor pitching as well).

You can stand out from the crowd and create a pitch that will allow your organization to dramatically increase its revenue and increase the amount of impact you can have.